A nother weekend, another championship for Manalapan High School heavyweight John Appice.
While the senior was winning his second straight NJSIAA Region 6 title, Ben Esposito led three Howell High School wrestlers through the region to this weekend’s NJSIAA Individual Wrestling Championships at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City from March 8-10.
It will be the first trip to Atlantic City for Esposito (132 pounds) and teammates Joey Schultz (160 pounds) and Ashanti Maurice (145 pounds). Appice will look to improve on his seventh-place finish last year and add to his legacy at Manalapan.
Appice (35-1) won his 100th career match earlier this year and has become the school’s all-time winner. He also has the record for wins in a season (37). With two District 21 and Region 6 titles, his place in Manalapan wrestling is secure. The only thing missing is a state title, and he would surely like to bring that home on March 10.
“It’s (state title) very important to me,” he said.
He heads to Atlantic City off another impressive weekend of wrestling at the Pine Belt Arena in Toms River. Appice, the top seed in his weight class, defeated Middletown High School South’s Trevor Finn, 7-1, in his final on March 2. He said he was “happy” with the way he wrestled.
Appice’s strength at heavyweight has always been that he is a wrestler. He doesn’t just grab and hold like most heavyweights. He has spent the season trying to find the optimum weight to wrestle at. Last year the Braves’ standout had trouble with the bigger heavyweights, so he put on weight this winter so he wouldn’t be out-muscled by the 285-pounders. The trick was not to give away his speed and quickness in the process. He believes he has found the right balance at 265 pounds.
“The extra 25 pounds is huge,” he said. “I can go toe-to-toe with the heavier guys and use my quickness to out-wrestle them.” Appice believes last year’s experience at Atlantic City will be helpful. “I’ve experienced what you go through and know what to expect,” he said.
As a senior, Appice knows full well what that means. This is the last time.
“There’s nothing to hold back; this is it,” he said.
Esposito said he was wrestling with house money in his 132-pound finals matchup against state place winner and defending champion Zach Hertling of Ocean Township High School.
The senior was one match away from Atlantic City as a sophomore. He went to last year’s region tournament taking it for granted that he would take the next step and be off to the state championships. Only, it didn’t happen.
“Last year was a huge part of my motivation,” Esposito said. “All the times I wrestled in the summer and worked out, I remembered how I felt last year. I knew I didn’t want to feel that way again.”
He won’t. The Rebels’ standout secured his ticket to Atlantic City when he won his semifinals match against Raritan High School’s Jason Bohal, 3-2. With the top three in each weight class qualifying for the state championships, advancing to the region finals meant no matter what happened there, Esposito had reached his goal of wrestling in Atlantic City. It made him more relaxed against Hertling, who defeated him last year.
“I went in with no pressure on me,” Esposito said.
Esposito parlayed a takedown to a 3-2 victory and lifted his record to 38-1. He credited a proper diet that helped him control his weight during the season as a big factor behind his success. The senior also said, above all else, “to be smart” when he wrestles at the state tournament.
Like Esposito, Maurice and Schultz will be making their first trips to Atlantic City.
Schultz, a junior, finished second at 160 pounds to Brick Township High School’s Dan Wojtaszek, losing a 3-0 decision in the finals.
Schultz had to get by St. John Vianney High School’s Anthony Ferraro in the semifinals.
Schultz upset the two-time champion in the District 21 finals. The Lancers’ senior was out to avenge that loss, but Schultz prevailed again, 3-2, to get to his first region finals.
The Rebels’ standout will bring a 33-7 record to Boardwalk Hall.
Maurice, a senior, made his Howell career complete by qualifying for the state championships for the first time in his last opportunity. Maurice won his third-place consolation match by a pin in 5:34 over Long Branch High School’s Luke Balina.
Seeded second, Maurice lost his rubber match in a 2013 trilogy to Jackson Memorial High School’s Spencer Young. Maurice defeated the Jaguars’ wrestler at the district tournament, reversing a loss to Young during the state team sectionals. Young edged Maurice, 5-3, in the semifinal and went on to lose in the finals by a pin to returning state champion B.J. Clagon of Toms River High School South. Maurice is 31-8.
Colts Neck High School’s Pete Ottaviano, who was voted the Most Outstanding Wrestler at the District 21 championship, is also Atlantic City-bound. The senior was a finalist at 120-pounds, losing by pinfall to Brick Memorial High School’s Joe Ghione. Ottaviano scored his first region medal and brings a 31-8 mark to the state championships.
Freehold Township High School’s Nick DePierro, a junior, punched his ticket to Atlantic City by finishing third at 113 pounds. He won his consolation match, 9-2, over Brick Township’s Connor Mulligan. The Patriots’ junior is 36-7.
Finishing in fourth place were Howell’s Jimmy Slendorn (106 pounds) and Marlboro High School’s Daniel Hwang (195 pounds).